Anyone who’s read any of our updates in the past – with warnings about viruses and other online nasties that affect Windows – would remember one, constant theme: regularly update and patch your system to keep most of the nasties at bay.

Our urgent update earlier in the month about the Sasser worm, which spread without using email, and which could infect you without you knowing it, was a big story. Reports suggest that most of the Northern Territory public service, as well as major companies like Westpac, were knocked out by this nasty, and we hope you were not one of the people caught out.

Sasser was a big deal because it spread using a vulnerability, or security hole, which had only been uncovered about two weeks before – a record for a mass worm to take advantage of an exploit found in more than 90% of computers online. The ‘prevention’ for Sasser and nasties like it is to regularly patch your system with updates from www.windowsupdate.com, but this isn’t always so easy when you’re connecting from a home connection with more than 100MB of patches to download and install.

The hardest thing about recovering from a virus that wipes out your system is the “sniper period”, where you connect to the internet to download patches to make yourself safe. While you’re downloading them, you are unprotected, in the open, and at risk of attack, and there’s nothing you can do about it!

Recognising this problem, and the poor security reputation of their systems, Microsoft have decided to do something really special – they are letting you order, free of charge and without postage costs, a CD-ROM with their recent patches and fixes. This is ideal for home and modem users to quickly update and secure their system without going online; ideal when you’re trying to get back on your feet.

You can request your free CD-ROM from Microsoft Security. Simply enter some details and submit a single form, and your request will be processed and a disc dispatched. If you are a home user, or connect to the internet through a modem, this disc is a must to help you get back on your feet quickly.